Kozzy

I have a small hodgepodge of older files but it's time to get a proper set of GOOD files rather than settling for what's in the drawer. I no longer buy the cheapest so am looking for suggestions on a quality brand that isn't a battle to get (like some of the euro made brands). A quick internet search shows that file making is no longer a USA activity so I thought it better to ask than assume one of the good-old standard brands still made a good product in China/Brazil/Mexico/Timbuktu/wherever. Due to my rural area, the pickins are pretty slim in the used market and I prefer to buy new anyway. Suggestions on brands that are still top-notch? Any file type/size that you consider your "go to" and would suggest making sure I get?

Yes but the elephant in the room is still doing it commercially for someone else. OP said "sawmill" which implies a much higher risk than something like a home woodworkers bandsaw.

I phrased it poorly...what I was getting at is that if you over-heat too much of the blade, you'll anneal a large section and cause problems. If you happen to let the blade cool way too fast (lots of surface area to mass so they cool really quickly), you can make a brittle spot. Overall, it's not a great idea to do it old school. Alignment is also critical in all dimensions--even a small misalignment will feel like a mountain when the blade is running.

Liability issue. Yes, there are ways to braze blades but there is a reason that's not common any more. Blade welder is the way to go. And tell your customer that a quality blade is worth every penny vs the cheapest on the rack. Here's a hint about brazing but doing it right is more complicated because you have to get the hardening/tempering right.

Well said. Some days the "zone" really is a boiling stewpot of poison that is hard to shake. That's actually one of the things my Dad taught me about the benefits of working alone: Some days are sort of "cursed"--better to write it off, do something else that soothes the mind, and come back to it another time. Hard to do in a corporate world.

Not a smithing related experience but yes, it does start to feel like you are isolated when working alone. I really miss some of the social aspects of a wide variety of workers around, especially the young ones (just past teen but still green to life). The youthful ones bring vibrance and often a good laugh to the workplace. I spent years working essentially alone before I got some staff..and recently let my staff go (through normal attrition, not firing) because of a family medical issue to made it impossible for me to keep them going while I was tied up. Now that the issue is over, I find myself craving some interaction with people again. But... On the other hand, with no one around you can pick your nose and fart all you want (metaphorically, of course) or just take off and go fishing on a moment's notice when the day seems to be dealing you a bad hand. So there are benefits that might to some outweigh the isolation. There is some freedom attached to isolated business ventures. Some people absolutely can't stand to be alone with themselves...they may think that the isolation will be no problem but it will eat them alive. If you have more than a passing hesitation (which you expressed), don't dive into the isolation. Make sure you have a lot of human interaction daily somehow--volunteer, get a side job, etc. Self motivation can be a bear to overcome when working alone also but that's another issue in itself.

Since you said "brand new tank", check the label: Most brand new tanks (never filled or used) have been nitrogen purged so they don't get condensation on the inside and rust while waiting to be purchased. The label usually says so. In that case, the risk is low...BUT.... NEVER ASSUME! so it pretty much makes the point moot. You don't want to be put on the "Darwin Award" list, even as a runner up.

Nice machine. Similar to my millermatic 251 which I was using not 5 minutes ago. On the inside of the spool cover the millermatic has a chart of recommended settings for metal thicknesses and wire diameters. Does yours? That chart on the 251 goes up to 1/2" but I'd say 3/8" is more realistic in terms of day in and out. Since the Millermatic and ESAB are rated about the same output, I'd say the capabilities are similar too. I prefer welding with gas--an argon CO2 mix for carbon steels. I never liked the flux cored wires. Some people love them and hate paying for gas so I guess it's just a matter of taste. For wire diameter, choose something common and in the middle. In the USA that's usually about .035" or .889 mm. It'd be good on small to medium work and you could push it to larger work here and there. If you can get to spray transfer mode (look that up, too complicated to explain here) it's like the welder will suddenly become far more stable and produce the prettiest welds you have ever seen. What do you consider heavy pieces? That machine will do some nice fabrication but if you are talking about welding 50 mm thick blocks, you probably want to do that with a stick machine anyway. Too slow with a MIG and not enough heat input. Basic stick machines are cheap as dirt. You probably want one around anyway.

A great tool I have found is the windalert.com website. It gives you a 7 day forecast of predicted winds in your area which makes it easy to spot when you wind-ows of low wind opportunity are coming and how long they will last. It's a little convoluted to get to the forecast at the site-- you enter your zip code and it will show a bunch of local wind stations. Pick one, click, and at the bottom of the window it brings up there is another button for "forecast". That should bring up the week's wind predictions hour by hour. Be sure and check whether the rates are in KPH or MPH...it does both. I live on an open plain and having that wind forecast makes a huge difference in a lot of outdoor projects. Even planning on mowing the lawn is better when the wind isn't buffeting you. I've found it to be quite accurate in my neck of the prairie. Sorry...this one is for the USA. Not sure if there is equivalent for other areas.

Think of the area of contact between the belt and the knife. On the long straight section, the contact is basically across the whole width of the belt. As you turn the corner, the contact reduces to a very small portion of the belt--essentially almost a line that's not more than about half a pinky's width at the most. That makes it really easy to lose control of all the issues which maintain the shape from pressure to movement. If you maintain the same apparent pressure (like just the weight of the sander), that pressure is over a MUCH smaller area and it will start hogging off too much material. Hesitate a fraction of a second and that half-pinky's width tries to flatten out wider and you take away the nice rounded section. As things progress, the radius will get larger and larger due to the lack of control. It's almost impossible to control a hand held sander in those conditions. Fixed belt is the way to go. Even a low-end knife belt sander (check pawn shops) would be an order of magnitude better in ability to control the grind. Even with a proper knife belt sander, you have to maintain good control on the curves. Twisted has one solution that allows you to control the blank instead of the sander--which will help a lot. I've used twisted's method and clamped the belt sander in a wooden woodworker's handscrew style clamp. It makes the system pretty stable on the workbench and it's hard to break the sander by over-clamping (vs something like a vice). However, that was in the stone age when belt sanders were actually made of metal so YMMV. If you're stuck with the handheld you have for now, you also might try going with a less aggressive grit on the curved sections to increase control. Takes longer and can generate more heat but it might help you tweak the form rather than hog off too much in the blink of an eye.

Interesting. And not a great idea. Pounding the pins from a riveted roller chain tends to mushroom them and can cause problems. One slip and an easy job turns into a nightmare. That's one reason they usually use screw type breakers for field work these days (or hydraulic for the big stuff). We use standard punch presses to punch the pins from many thousands of chain links a year for our products--on the bench in specialized jigs. My 60's era Whitney chain catalog doesn't show that device. Not sure if that means it was just dropped for better options or it was a bit of a failure. 50's era REX catalog has nothing similar either and I don't remember seeing it in the era catalogs of the lesser brands that I have on the shelf. I do collect roller chain related stuff so if you ever decide to sell, PM me. Whitney used to be considered a top US brand until the chain wars moved most to overseas manufacturers (Japan at the time). It's mostly a case of not upgrading the WW2 era processes and machines in the USA, not that the Japanese were simply undercutting. Chain manufacturing in the USA was, for a while, protected by anti-dumping duties but was decades behind in tech. Current cost for a USA made chain is usually 3+ times a Japanese which is about 2-3 times what Chinese chain costs. We DO NOT use the Chinese stuff at our place because the quality is inconsistent (toward awful). Just because Frosty keeps saying IFI loves pictures--here is a Chinese chain sidebar that was electro-galvanized at too high a current, causing embrittlement cracking around the pin location. I guess I rambled...what can I say: I am a chain guy.

Check the "sold" listings on the popular auction site that I won't mention by name and you'll see what similar actually recently sold for rather than what was asked. On a recent foray there to check post vices, your number seems about right (give or take) for a generic 4 to 4-1/2" vice in good shape...and there was shipping on top of that. You'll also notice a few that command higher pricing so it might be worth seeing why that happened--in case yours can be slipped into that category with a tweak or two to the cosmetics. "Recently sold" is becoming a more important factor because prices are moving pretty quickly. A year ago those would have been worth about half as much.

Ok, I'll buy that one. Since I have been half-heartedly doing the "prepper" think at my home (not the crazy paranoid end, just making sure I have reasonable back-ups) your reasoning does make some sense to me. Not sure it's a compelling reason to pick one up but at least it gives rise to thinking about it.

Speaking of post drills, can anyone come up with something they do either much better than a good drill press or that you can't do with a modern drill press? I know some have incredibly strong downfeed pressure systems but other than that, any compelling reason to have one around (other than old-school factor)? The smaller versions are common as dirt around here but I've always passed..never saw a need (have a large geared-head do-all drill press plus 2 others already). Just wondering if someone can justify taking a second look when I trip over a good looking post drill.

I second this for opinion for Washington. 4 bucks a pound and it'll sit anywhere from an hour to a year depending on how desperate someone is who is anvil shopping. 3 bucks a pound will generate some serious interest and it'll go for sure in short order. It's a good size--not so large that people get scared about handling but not so small that people hesitate and wait for bigger. Middlin weight anvils are not that common around this area. Either they are bigger ones from lumber mills (that go for superior dollars) or smaller farrier anvils as a rough trend. Just mentioning that because market affects pricing a lot.

I wish someone would invent a better phrase than the mostly-misleading "does it have a ring" that seems to be common. I'm not an anvil expert..not even close...but it seems to me that it's not about ring but what the sound of any ring communicates. "Ring" is sort of like judging whether coffee is good by whether it looks black in the cup or not: By itself it tells you very little unless completely absent--and even then, absence of strong ringing might be misleading for some superior anvils. One would never leave the bearing test to something as useless as "does the bearing bounce"--you need to quantify results. Maybe it's time to change "does it ring" to "what does the ring tell you". I understand that novices might not know what to listen for but at least it communicates that they should be listening for something other than simply the existence/non-existence of a ring.

Vape pen statistics show that the average "quitter" of coffin nails takes about 8 months before they stop using it. I haven't made that break yet although it's on my short list--Quit the cancer sticks 16 months ago. The vape HAS kept me from going back to the sticks but it too needs to eventually go. But the real reason I had to chime in was to note that the desire for that smoke doesn't seem to go away. I'd sure LOVE to sit down and do some fishing with a good smoke. There are other times when the sight or notion is awfully tempting also. I have heard many long-term quitters say they still crave the good old smokies. Good on you for making it 2 weeks. Stick with it because it's worth the battle (took several months before I noticed my lungs no longer felt like they'd been scrubbed with a wire brush every morning). Don't abandon the vaping too soon if that's the crutch you need to keep off the smokes. Maybe go to a lower nicotine content liquid as time passes. Better to accept the lesser of 2 evils for a while than to potentially sabotage the project. No, it's not "advice"--just opinion.

Listen to the Doctor. Alligator splices are easy if you have the tools and the splices themselves are not much money. It's the little bit of labor to have someone who has the tools do it for you that will be most of the cost. It's generally worth it to have someone experienced do the deed. They will possibly need to know your required finished length so take the time to determine that--even if you have the belt in-hand, it might have stretched or have some problem you haven't noticed so you want the information needed to start from scratch just in case. Save yourself an extra trip on the off chance you do need to start from scratch. Yes, you can do them yourself. Look up alligator lacing on one of the industrial supply sites. It's just much smoother, straighter, and better if they are installed with the proper tools. (alligator is actually a brand but should bring up the category also) I've assumed you mean a flat belt...V belt is a different story.

It used to be a lot harder to pass on stuff that was desirable. I've learned to better erase the emotional aspects of "want" and lean toward "need". That leaves the middle group of "I could probably use one" to fall into the "only if it's a superior deal" category. I also used to be MUCH more apt to think I could restore stuff (mostly machine tools) or roll my own: Although there is some fun in the process, there seems to be little if any value other than that fun in it. It's often a better value just to buy some things new or better quality used. The above doesn't mean the treasures don't call to me...just that I don't listen to the cries of "buy me!" the way I used to.

Speaking of Richard Postman, I got my copy of Anvils In America this week, the reference book often mentioned on IFI that 9 of 10 people say "I've got to get a copy....someday" It's a great reference work and was worth every penny. I got the hardcover and it's printed on quite heavy paper and well bound. If any IFI members can swing the cost and have been pondering a copy, I do recommend putting a little forge heat under it in your priority list. Pass on the over-roasted crappy $ 5 Starbuck's coffee a few times (one could make better coffee with forge coal) and make it happen. You won't regret it.

Wow. Gas attacks are about the nastiest way of making war. My Grandfather had lung problems all his life from WW1 gas attacks. He told a story (that I can't vouch for as truth) of his group sleeping in a barn one night. Because he was only 16 and the "kid", they made him sleep in the loft while the "men" got to sleep ground level. By morning, the rest were dead because gasses tended to be heavier than air so follow the ground.

Is this why you need a new smaller iron?

Thanks..and I'm a bit confused. I've searched that same thing before (as well as all the alternatives I could think of) and came up with zero appropriate results. I guess I should have tried again before posting--just had the need come up and asked before looking again. You have my permission to test your newest hammer on my head. Thanks

I can't seem to find anyone who supplies arrow stamps for metal (or even leather). It's easy to find the letter, number and a bunch of other symbols but I can't seem to find an arrow. Anyone ever remember seeing one? It's not really worth ordering or making a custom stamp *if* I can find any supplier who already makes one..no use re-inventing the wheel. I have currently been doing it -----> style with separate stamps but it doesn't look as professional as I'd like. It's to mark installation direction on some parts we machine in plastic (yea, I know, not smithing related but I was hoping you folks might be able to help).

What I noticed was that the first sword bounced back and whacked him pretty hard on the upper arm/shoulder, edge first. Had that been a razor sharp blade, things could have gotten really ugly. I was surprised that they didn't skip the second test or take some precaution against it happening again. Had to point that out in case someone decides to test bungies themselves. Leather coat or something might be a good idea.